Cool Japan (クールジャパン Kūru Japan), along with "Gross National Cool" is a concept as an expression of Japan's emergent status as a cultural superpower. Gaining broad exposure in the media and academia, the brand of "Cool Japan" has been adopted by the government of Japan as well as trade bodies seeking to exploit the commercial capital of the country's culture industry. It has been described as a form of soft power, "the ability to indirectly influence behaviour or interests through cultural or ideological means".
Origins
Following the destruction of World War II after American bombings, Japan hoped they could improve their economy
and national image by distributing their pop culture throughout the
world, specifically through Eastern Asia in order to increase their
reputation and alliances with the neighboring countries. As opposed to
their history of being a fierce military power, they were taking the
route of establishing themselves as being a soft power, which they believed would change the perception of their nation. Starting in 1980, after the emergence of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Japan started ramping up their nation branding efforts through releasing a new television series titled Oshin, which was a Japanese soap opera.
The show was well perceived, and this sent an immediate boost in the
image Japan was trying to improve. Through the success of Oshin
and multiple other television shows, the country introduced the idea of
“Cool Japan”, which attempted to harness the success of their pop
culture and distribute that pleasure toward the country’s cultural
perception.
In a 2002 article in Foreign Policy
titled "Japan's Gross National Cool", Douglas McGray wrote of Japan
"reinventing superpower" as its cultural influence expanded
internationally despite the economic and political problems of the "lost decade". Surveying youth culture and the role of J-pop, manga, anime, video games, fashion, film, consumer electronics, architecture, cuisine, and phenomena of cuteness such as Hello Kitty, McGray highlighted Japan's considerable soft power, posing the question of what message the country might project. He also argued that Japan's recession may even have boosted its national cool, due to the partial discrediting of erstwhile rigid social hierarchies and big-business career paths.
Adoption
Taken up in the international media, with The New York Times running a retrospect "Year in Ideas: Pokémon Hegemon",
an increasing number of more reform-minded government officials and
business leaders in Japan began to refer to the country's "gross
national cool" and to adopt the unofficial slogan "Cool Japan". In a 2005 press conference, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs linked the idea to Bhutan's concept of Gross National Happiness.
The phrase gained greater exposure in the mid-noughties as NHK began a series Cool Japan Hakkutsu: Kakkoii Nippon! which by the end of 2009 had reached over a hundred episodes. Academic initiatives include the establishment of a "Cool Japan" research project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while some western universities have reported an increase in the number of applicants for Japanese Studies courses due to the "cool" effect.
The adoption of Cool Japan has also spurred changes in culture
studies. As a result of the fascination of Cool Japan with Japanese
youth culture and schoolgirls, a new wave of studies called 'girl
studies' focuses specifically on the experience of girls and the
girls-at-heart. Previously a subject of adolescent psychology or
feminism, girl studies emerged from Cool Japan to include an
interdisciplinary analysis of girl culture.
Creative Industries Promotion Office
The Japanese government has identified the culture industry as one of five potential areas of growth. In June 2010, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
established a new Creative Industries Promotion Office to promote
cultural and creative industries as a strategic sector "under the
single, long term concept of "Cool Japan", to coordinate different
government functions, and to cooperate with the private sector". The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced that Japanese pop culture is one of the key elements for Cool Japan and that pop culture includes idol, anime, and B class gourmet (B級グルメ).
The deputy director described its mission as to "brand Japanese products with the uniqueness of Japanese culture". For 2011, it has a budget of ¥19 billion. In fiscal 2008, public spending
on cultural activities was ¥116.9 billion in South Korea, ¥477.5
billion in China, and ¥101.8 billion in Japan, respectively 0.79%,
0.51%, and 0.12% of total government spending. The fund was launched in 2013,
and the Japanese government committed to the Cool Japan Fund ¥50
billion ($500 million) over 20 years, with a target of ¥60 billion ($600
million) via private investor partnerships. However, Nikkei Asian Review
reported that within five years the fund "suffered pretax losses
totaling 10 billion yen ($88.9 million)" and many projects failed to
deliver earnings, and since June 2018 the management is led by former
Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) CEO Naoki Kitagawa.
Timeline of notable endeavors
- 2013
- Establishment of Cool Japan Fund Inc. under the Law of Cool Japan Fund Inc. (Act No.51 of 2013).
- 2014
- Traditional Japanese crafts showcased at Maison & Objet, the world's largest trade fair for interior goods and designs, to promote Japan's monodzukuri (manufacturing) culture.
- WakuWaku Japan, Japanese satellite television channel that broadcasts Japanese programs to overseas viewers in Asia. It was a joint venture with broadcaster Sky Perfect JSAT who contributed ¥6.6 billion out of ¥11 billion, but it failed to expand in multiple markets and generate viewership, with nearly ¥4 billion losses until 2017.
- 2015
- METI starts Nippon Quest, a website to showcase and disseminate unknown Japanese regional specialties to the world.
- U.S. cafes focused on Japanese tea, on which was spent ¥250 million for nearly 50% stake.
- Funding of the development of content creators for anime and manga outside Japan by KADOKAWA Contents Academy Co., Ltd..
- 2016
- Isetan the Japan Store, a joint venture with Isetan to make a five-floor department store in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to promote Japanese goods and services. However, lack of demand resulted with a loss of circa $4.5 million, and all Cool Japan Fund shares sold to Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings.
- 2018
- The first investment with new management was $12.5 million in Tastemade, becoming a minority shareholder, to support making of content promoting Japanese food and destinations.
- 2019
- Cool Japan Fund invests US$30 million in American anime licensing company Sentai Holdings, aiming to provide support at the copyright level, and increasing the presence of anime in North America.
Criticism
A 2010 editorial in the Yomiuri Shimbun
argued that the government was not doing enough to advance the
country's business interests in this sphere, allowing South Korea to
emerge as a competitor. The editorial highlighted structural
inefficiencies, with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry promoting "Cool Japan", the Ministry of Foreign Affairs responsible for cultural exchange, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in charge of Japanese foods.
Lecturer Roland Kelts has also suggested that a failure to fully
distinguish, brand and engage the overseas audience and market may mean
that "Cool Japan" is "over".
In 2011, Laura Miller has critiqued Cool Japan campaign as exploiting
and misrepresenting youth subcultural fashion and language. In 2013, Nancy Snow referred to Cool Japan as a form of state-sponsored cultural retreading she calls Gross National Propaganda. Japanese singer-songwriter Gackt
criticized the government in 2015 for having set up a huge budget, yet
"have no idea where that money should go. It’s no exaggeration to say it
has fallen into a downward spiral of wasted tax money flowing into
little known companies", and that such lack of support is causing Japan
to "fall behind its Asian neighbors in terms of cultural exports".
In 2016, Benjamin Boas pointed out that Cool Japan-branded efforts are
often promoted without participation of foreigners, leaving out the
perspectives of the very foreigners that they are trying to target.
In 2017, a senior executive and several other senior male
employees of Cool Japan Fund Inc. were accused of sexual harassment
targeting female employees of the fund. The employees formed a labor union in order to fight against sexual harassment. In the same year, Nikkei Asian Review
journalist Yuta Saito criticized fund's ambitions because their "lack
of strategy, discipline gives rise to unprofitable projects", and
there's possible conflict of interest by the executives. In 2018, Japan Today reported too soon to consider it "grossly incompetent or corrupt", but it's at least "under-performing" for now.
